The Lost Tribe: Maliha the Wanderer (Book 1)

A Mother's Sacrifice

Maliha's legs swung back and forth as she stared out into the distance, her eyes gazing over the rippling, blue water as daylight slowly peeled across the sky. The air was full of tension, it rolled of Kaori's shoulders in thick, choking waves. She could feel his eyes boring into her face, it was as if he was afraid that if he looked away Maliha would disappear into thin air.

"I used to take your mother up here all the time. She always found it peaceful, I think it reminded her of home."

Maliha looked over at the man who had a part in her conception. She could see where many of her features had come from. He had dark midnight skin that glistened under the rising sun. Thick black hair that was scraped into a bun atop his head. His dark eyes were almond shaped, and the pierced bridge of his nose was broad. Her brother was a replica of Kaori baring Makaio's lighter skin, and her father's wider and fuller lips.

"It's peaceful. I can see why she would have liked it," Maliha murmured.

"This used to be a bridge that connected the mainland to our Island."

At the mention of a bridge, Maliha thought back on Makula's words. She had mentioned that the Nah Barros had not rebuilt their bridge. Maliha had always assumed that the old woman had been speaking in riddles like she always had been, but Makula had been speaking literally. The Nah Barros had not rebuilt the bridge that once connected them to the world. As Maliha looked around, she could see the signs of what once used to be a bridge. A wooden stump was buried into the earth and where she sat, wooden planks dangled over the edge of the cliff and into the water. This had once been a gateway to connecting the tribes together, but something had happened to make the Nah Barros isolate themselves from everyone. Maliha couldn't hold back her questions any longer, not when remnants of a past she did not know was still visibly present all around her.

"What happened here? What happened to this tribe?" And why had they let her go? Maliha kept the most important question to herself but Kaori seemed to read into what Maliha could not say.

"I'm not sure where to start," he sighed, looking at the lashing water in consideration. "I suppose what happened to our tribe was that we lost our heart and a tribe without a heart is a tribe barely living."

Maliha could see that truth all around her. They lived on this island with nothing and no one but the same people they had known all their lives. It was sad, yet it seemed that many tribes of this nation had begun to do the same.

"You see, quite some years ago when you were just a baby, we engaged in a war against the Der Surjaz. It was a long and gruesome battle. They were worthy opponents fighting for their Razi even though his mind had slipped away.

We had a life to avenge as I am sure you know and so we did not stop until we had pierced Kain's heart with an arrow. He didn't die right away but we knew the poison would eventually claim him. The Der Surjaz surrendered swiftly after he took ill and we agreed that we would help them restructure their tribe in the death of Kain once we had tended to our wounded."

"But you never did!" Maliha spat accusingly.

The La Aquy and the Nah Barros had torn apart the Der Surjaz tribe and left a young traumatised and orphaned boy to sit upon a crumbling throne with no help or guidance except for those very same people who had stood idly by and watched Der Surjaz ruler after Der Surjaz ruler poison their land. The Der Surjaz had tried to scramble together and piece back what had been broken but they had been struggling for centuries and this war had been the final blow. The tribe Maliha knew and had come to love as her own had so much heart but had so many flaws all because they had been split apart. First by their corrupted ruler who had been selfish and cruel and then by the absence of a guiding hand. The der Surjaz had been abandoned when they needed the most help. Ujarak had been abandoned. His resentment of the Nah Barros and in turn Maliha was starting to make sense to her.